By ANTHONY BOTTAN
The intersections of Althouse Avenue and First and Second avenues have become serious concerns for local residents, who complain that there are not enough stop signs - or enforcement of existing signs - to control the excessive speeding on these streets.
Stanley Lombardo, a resident whose house or car has been damaged four times in the past eight years by drivers speeding down First Avenue, recently sent a letter to Mayor Ed Sieban, telling Sieban how concerned he was about the drivers on these streets.
Lombardo's letter requested the installation of stop signs on First Avenue as well as at the intersection of Second Avenue and Althouse Avenue.
Sieban explained to the Herald that the request must be processed by the village. It will be sent to Village Engineer Carman Dunne, and Dunne will gather information from Nassau County Police Department accident reports in the area, and compare the street layout to other comparable intersections in East Rockaway. If Dunne agrees that stops sign should be installed, the request will be put on the docket at a village board meeting. The board must vote to have the signs installed, Sieban said.
For Lombardo, better traffic control can't come too soon. Lombardo, who lives on Cammerer Avenue, has lost a dog and a cat in the past two years at the intersection of First Avenue and Althouse, he said, because of the constant speeding down his block. Lombardo's house is at the end of First Avenue, and three cars have ended up in his backyard because their drivers were speeding down First Avenue after leaving Bay Park.
"I realize we have a heavy traffic problem," Lombardo said, "but we have to look into adding stop signs to try and regain some control before something catastrophic happens."
The situation worries Lombardo so much that he stands outside his house on weekends and directs traffic so the neighborhood kids stay safe.
There is no stop sign on Second Avenue for westbound traffic on Althouse, and only one stop sign for eastbound drivers on Althouse. Frank Laurino, who lives on the corner of Second and Althouse, said that a car came speeding down Second Avenue last year, jumped the curb and struck his house, ruining his front yard gate.
Cars travel so fast on Second Avenue and Althouse, Laurino said, that when he pulls out of his driveway, he has to open his windows, turn off his radio and listen to determine whether any are coming, because he can't see very far down Althouse. "It just a real bad turn," Laurino said of the turn from Second onto Althouse. "People come flying around this turn and can't see, and I naturally can't see them. It's just a real bad situation."
Laurino said that when he moved into his home, there was a stop sign on the corner, but it was removed. He said he has to stop traffic when his parents or relatives visit so they can make it out of his driveway safely. "I thank God nothing has happened so far, but it's a real serious situation," he said.
Denise Lobascio's house is on the corner of Althouse and First Avenue. Lobascio has four children, one with Down syndrome, and she said she is afraid to let them roam the front yard because of all the reckless driving down Althouse. "My kids can't even play in their own front yard because it's too scary and dangerous," Lobascio said.
She said she hears cars crashing into poles in the middle of the night and then speeding off before police arrive. "It's becoming a drag racing thing," Lobascio said. "We need to control this for the kids' sake."
Sieban said the process of determining whether more signage should be added in the area may be slowed because of a lack of personnel at the Nassau County Police Department. Lately, he said, it has been taking much longer to get information needed to act on such requests. But Sieban promised that the wheels are turning. "The request will be processed through," he said.
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